Elliott Investment Management and private lending veteran Robert Wasmund have partnered to grow a new financing source for residential developments ranging from single-family homes to multifamily projects.

Called Ascent Developer Solutions, or AscentDS, the lender will offer short-term secured loans to fund the purchase, renovation and construction of single-family and multifamily properties. Founded earlier this year by Wasmund, AscentDS will also offer post-completion bridge loans, according to the release.

“There’s a shortage of construction capital in the country given the bank retraction, and there’s a shortage of housing,” Wasmund told Bloomberg in a phone interview. “We’re well-served and well-positioned to take advantage of that.”

Construction lending in 2023 slumped to historic lows. AscentDS is targeting $3B to $5B in annual originations, Bloomberg reported.

The undersupply of housing plus the nation's aging existing residential stock “creates a natural demand for new construction and renovation investments” that AscentDS plans to address, according to a release for the lender.

Wasmund, speaking in a statement, also pointed to elevated interest rates, “dislocated construction financing” and the pullback of regional banks from the CRE lending landscape as factors that created the financing gap AscentDS seeks to fill.

The launch was kicked off by Elliott's commitment of an undisclosed amount of equity to AscentDS, a release for the lender noted. Elliott's investment will fuel both the build-out of AscentDS's operations and its lending power.